Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Shares Gap Down to $179.29

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $179.29, but opened at $169.70. Packaging Co. of America shares last traded at $172.32, with a volume of 196,219 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PKG. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com lowered Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $172.00 to $202.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.29.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $15.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.88.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at $8,478,319.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total value of $1,825,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total transaction of $2,507,681.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at $33,975,365.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Packaging Co. of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PKG. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 249.9% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 6,936 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 42.7% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 6.0% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Packaging Co. of America during the 3rd quarter worth about $119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Company Profile

Packaging Corporation of America manufactures and sells containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers various containerboard and corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers used to protect and transport manufactured goods; multi-color boxes and displays that help to merchandise the packaged product in retail locations; and honeycomb protective packaging products, as well as packaging for meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages, and other industrial and consumer products.